This month, Representative Eric Swalwell faced a deluge of sex misconduct claimsand pushed him to drop out of the California gubernatorial race. But the explosion of the scandal has also ensnared Senator Rubén Gallego of Arizona, a presidential candidate in 2028 and one of Swalwell’s closest allies before the stories broke. Gallego had endorsed Swalwell’s gubernatorial bid, led his 2020 presidential campaign, and invested in Swalwell’s AI startup.
But now, Gallego is distancing himself from the member of Congress and saying that he had no prior knowledge of the allegations. Gallego has also denied hearing any rumors of alleged misconduct by Swalwell.
Recently, I sat down with Gallego for an upcoming episode of America, Really. The conversation focuses on topics that have made Gallego a national name: immigration reform, reaching out to Latino voters, and his advocacy for Democrats to do more outreach to people of color. However, given the flood of questions about his close relationship with Swalwell, and the fact that Gallego has now earned the ire of some of the voices that helped make the allegations public, I also wanted to ask him about his former friend and partner.
This is what he said. The full episode will air on Saturday, April 25, but will be available earlier this week to Vox Members. Join now on Patreon and get notified when it posts.
I don’t want to go too long without asking about the recent spate of sexual harassment allegations against MP Eric Swalwell, who he once called his best friend.
You led his 2020 presidential campaign. You were financially involved in his AI startup. Did you have any knowledge of these allegations of misconduct or did you ever hear rumors of brutal behavior on the Hill? I wanted to ask you directly.
Nope. No tip, no knowledge of any allegations or abusive behavior. That’s certainly not what any of us… and look, we’ve all had conversations as we all go back…
Friends, members of Congress, other supporters. We all talk to see: What did we do wrong? What did we not see?
I just want to follow up, though, because it seems like the magnitude of the allegations does — I think it leads to some gut-wrenching on that, because it seems like this was a known thing among some on the Hill. This seems like, indeed, there was a community of women who were organizing around this. What? had you not heard anything about it?
It’s not about the allegations we’re talking about, sexual harassment, abusive behavior. You know, there’s a culture in DC that actually exists – where not only him, but a lot of other politicians – we heard about somebody who’s, you know, flirty. But never inappropriate, never abuse, never to employees, and things like that. But see, this is the kind of thing that makes us all re-examine what we’ve been accepting versus not accepting.
Part of the reason some of this has come back to haunt you, though, is that you came to Swalwell’s defense just this month, writing recently on X that “Eric is a fighter.”
Considering what you know now, or considering that you say you heard rumors about him being funny, why fully defend him?
Well, for two reasons: (First) because we have heard this, about him, about other politicians, for a long time, and nothing ever happened, right? Number two, he knew exactly what to say to me, because I had just come off a very difficult campaign in 2024, where I had some bad things said about me in commercials that my kids have to see.
And (Swalwell’s team) and some of his staff pushed that button for me. And it was wrong. I mean, of course, it was a mistake. Let’s be clear: Knowing now everything I know, I would never do it. But knowing now everything I know, especially sexual abuse, sexual abuse (behavior), we wouldn’t have the relationship that we had.
There have been others who have said that this is also a question of your judgment. I wanted you to answer that. I mean, you’ve been openly embracing the question of the 2028 race. What do you say to someone who looks at this situation and sees it as a reason to question you?
To tell the truth one hundred percent, you know, I am a human being first than a politician. And my judgment was off for many reasons. But number one, because I knew this man as a family man, first. We were not just colleagues. Our families ate dinner together; our children were at camp together. And I must learn from this, and I will learn from this.
But you know, for me, it’s not a question of 2028. It’s about what it means to be the best boss, the first in my office, and also the best senator for my constituents.
